Genesis
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29Chapter 30Chapter 31Chapter 32Chapter 33Chapter 34Chapter 35Chapter 36Chapter 37Chapter 38Chapter 39Chapter 40Chapter 41Chapter 42Chapter 43Chapter 44Chapter 45Chapter 46Chapter 47Chapter 48Chapter 49Chapter 50
Themes
Characters
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Genesis
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Themesand ColorsKey
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Genesis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God, Humanity, and Creation
Mistrust, Disobedience, and Death
Covenants and Faith in God’s Promises
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
God tells Jacob to settle at Bethel and build an altar there, so Jacob tells his household to get rid of their foreign gods, purify themselves, and worship with him at Bethel. As they go, God causes fear to fall on the surrounding cities so that no one pursues them. They all go to Bethel, where God first revealed himself to Jacob upon fleeing from Esau.
After Dinah’s rape and the subsequent slaughter, the family seeks another new beginning, and God protects them from interference as they go. Part of this fresh start is rejecting “foreign gods,” perhaps remnants of the polytheistic beliefs of Rachel and Leah’s upbringing.
ActiveThemes
God appears to Jacob again and says that he will now be called Israel. He commands him to “be fruitful and multiply”; he will make nations and kings from Jacob’s offspring. He promises again to give Jacob the land that he gave to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob establishes a pillar at Bethel.
In Canaan, Jacob has assumed the place of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham as the one through whom God’s promises are passed down. Here, God repeats his renaming of Jacob as well as his promises of offspring and land.
ActiveThemes
As they journey onward from Bethel, Rachel goes into hard labor and dies just as her son is born. Rachel names him Ben-oni, but Jacob calls him Benjamin. Rachel is buried at Bethlehem, and Jacob sets up a pillar at her grave. Then he settles beyond the tower of Eder. (Around this same time, Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, and Jacob hears about it.) Jacob has 12 sons altogether: six from Leah, two from Rachel, and two each from Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacob comes to Isaac at Mamre, and after Isaac dies, Jacob and Esau bury him.
Ben-oni means “Son of my sorrow,” while Benjamin means “Son of the right hand.” While this second son brings Rachel to grief, he adds strength to Jacob. The aside about Reuben and Bilhah (Leah’s maid) comes back to Reuben on Jacob’s deathbed. Genesis sums up Jacob’s descendants and also brings Isaac’s generation to a close.
ActiveThemes
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